MADISON, WIS. – John W. Vaudreuil, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that today Andrew Pullum, 31, Verona, Wis., pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Madison to stealing $3,950 in U.S. currency, which was the property of the United States. U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson scheduled sentencing for August 23, 2016, at 1:00 p.m. Pullum faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison.

Pullum, a police officer with the Madison Police Department at the time of the crime, was arrested December 18, 2015, at the Madison Police Department’s West District Station by FBI agents. The majority of the stolen money was recovered following a search of Pullum’s home shortly after his arrest.

Pullum admitted that on December 17, 2015, he was directed to make contact with a citizen providing information to the police. The citizen was in fact an FBI undercover officer. The undercover officer told Pullum that she was angry at her drug dealing boyfriend and that there may be cocaine and money in a parked car. Pullum admitted opening the trunk of the car, and removing a bag containing $3,950.

Pullum called for a drug detection canine to assist in a possible search of the undercover car, but he failed to turn over the money he had earlier removed from the car and he failed to log any money into evidence from his shift.

The investigation into Pullum began after the Madison Police Department received a citizen’s tip. The department’s Internal Affairs Division immediately contacted federal authorities.

The charge against Pullum is the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with the full cooperation of the Madison Police Department. The prosecution of this case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney David J. Reinhard.